The present invention pertains to a device and method of correctly performing exercises. More particularly it pertains to a device which signals a weight lifter who is in the process of performing a lift when the lifter's thighs are rotated to a specific angle.
Athletes who lift weights often perform a lift called the "parallel squat" lift. The "full" parallel squat is a lift in which an athlete begins in a standing position, with a barbell or other weight resting on his shoulders, behind his neck. The lifter must have both hands on the bar of the barbell, chest out, lower back pulled in, head up, and both feet flat on the floor. To begin the lift, the athlete begins to lower his hips, by bending at the knees, keeping the chest, back, head and feet in the original position while forcing the knees outward. The athlete continues lowering the hips until the upper thighs drop slightly below a line parallel to the surface upon which the athlete is standing. Then the process is reversed until the athlete is standing in a full upright position again. To perform the "half" squat, the lifter begins the lift in the same manner, but reverses before the thighs are parallel to the ground.
The part of the full squat which is the most difficult to perform properly is reaching and stopping the lift when the upper thighs reach that point at which they are slightly below a line horizontal to the knees. Because the athlete must keep his head up, he cannot see a profile of himself performing the lift or look down at the position of his upper thighs. A person performing the lift by himself will only known when the proper point has been reached in the lift by "feel" or experience. Watching a mirror image is often unsatisfactory for athletes because of the distraction, the danger of having glass around heavy weights, and the high cost of full length mirrors. The difficulty is in identifying that point at which the lifter should stop and start back up to finish the exercise. If the upper thighs are not lowered far enough, the correct muscles are not utilized and the benefits of the lift are not realized.
If the thighs go too low, there is a serious danger of injury. When the athlete reaches the low point of the lift and starts to reverse direction, there is a tendency to "bounce" at the bottom of the lift. This bouncing can cause sudden stress to the knee or thigh muscles, resulting in injuries such as weakening of the knee or pulling the muscles in the thigh.
To a somewhat lesser extent, the same type of problems exist when the athlete performs the half squat.
The parallel squat lift is performed by any number of weight lifters as a form of exercise, but is also performed in weight lifting competitions. When other persons are present to watch the lift, such as judges in weight lifting competitions, the previous method of determing the proper point at which the lift should be reversed is still inadequate. The judgment of the person watching the lift is subject to the fallacies of the human eye. Also, there is a delay between when the person watching the lift sees that the proper point has been reached, and when he is able to communicate that information to the lifter by some type of warning. Thus, there is a danger this delay will allow the lifter to go too low. Corresponding problems are found in other types of lifts involving other members of the body.
Reference is made to U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,766,538 issued to Dealy; 3,644,919 issued to Mathauser; and 1,956,201 issued to Roberts. The Mathuaser and Roberts patents are specifically limited to skiers and boxers, respectively. The Dealy patent is apparently intended for use primarily by baseball players and it involves a different concept than that embodied in the present invention because it seeks to detect motion in a particular area of the body so that the timing of the person's movement can be sensed. In other words, the Dealy device is intended to let the user know if a particular part of his body has been moved and when it was moved. It is apparently not intended to tell the athlete if the particular part of the body moves properly to a certain point and stops. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device for weight lifters which signals the lifter when the particular body part monitored has moved far enough to complete a lift.
It is another object of the present invention to allow weight lifters to determine whether they have correctly completed the lift when by themselves.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a reliable and immediate response to those observing the lift when the lift has been correctly completed.
Another object of the invention is to allow weight lifters performing a parallel squat lift to go low enough to successfully complete the lift without going so low as to risk injury.
Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device which will work on any athlete and is easily interchangable.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide weight lifters with a means of telling whether the chest, back, and feet have been kept in the correct positions during a parallel squat lift.